"I am the rose of sharon, the lily of the valley."

Walking with Christ in Youth

“Flee your youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of pure heart.”

Dear beautiful roses,

You are different. In a world filled with the chaos of deception, temporary fulfillment, blindness, social trends, greed, lust, and struggle; it is easy to begin to want to conform to society’s way of life. After all, you just want to be relateble. You crave the feeling of being fully accepted by your peers. Their livelihoods are normal to you, and all you want is a normal life. People don’t see things the way you do; what you think is wrong — is watered down and carried out by them on a daily basis. Your morals are being mocked. Your standards shamed. You are viewed as boring, corny, or even sometimes lame. You feel like the outcast of the in-crowd, often. Their conversation doesn’t truly fulfill you. You don’t take satisfaction in surface deeds. You always crave more in your attempt to be common; yet you still attempt to be common, because your desire to understand the lifestyle of your peers is like an addiction. You can’t get a fix.

You work hard, you pray; you do all of the right things, yet you still come up short. You see the people around you doing all of the wrong things, and you wonder how their lives seem so joyous. It makes you feel like maybe what you think is right, is actually wrong. You begin to believe that the ways of the world are the keys to a happy life. Not to add the illusion that you can’t be Godly and have a good time because being Godly requires you to be wholesome, and according to society, virtue is vapid. You are constantly encouraged to live a life that doesn’t reflect your character. The world has made you feel like you are imprisoned by your innocence and God is the prison guard. In the heart of this commotion, I see you. God sees you. Now it’s time for you to see and accept yourself for the beautifully unique being you are.

Please know that it is not your ability to fit in that is going to give you joy and satisfaction, but it is your ability to accept and embrace yourself for who you truly are that will guide you to the source of beauty within your life. Your task is to lean on the Lord in these times of confusion and he will give you guidance and light. Do not be deceived by your surroundings. The enemy uses the influences that entice you further away from God’s plan for your life. The enemy recognizes the power you hold. He sees the blessings and callings over your life even when you don’t, and he wants to destroy anything that can guide you closer to the life God wants to give you. After all, he comes to kill, steal, and destroy. He will attack your finances, confidence, health, fruitful relationships, and anything else that he could use to isolate you and break you down. You have to recognize these attacks and stand strong against them. Know that anything that leads you astray is not a gift from the Lord. The devil gives gifts as well and he will use them to make you lose interest in anything God-given in your life because he will make it come easy when the Lord wants you to submit. Realize that God is not the author of confusion, but of a sound mind and heart. When you submit to the Lord and all of his ways he will make your loads light. Trust and confide in him and he will begin to put the pieces to the puzzle of your life back into place.

You are extraordinary, called to a higher purpose; personally plucked by the hand of God to carry out a will greater than any human mind can conceive. You cannot live like everyone else because the Lord has given you a task to deliver his divine plan. You will be the one to restore the order to this catastrophic community. Yet you have to remember that it all begins with you. You are the raging fire waiting to be ignited. Your purpose is poetic; your mindset comparable to the size of mountains. You are the gifted minority to the majority of veiled thought.